


Darling

by madcapdragonshenanigans



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/F, I didn't write this - Freeform, I only edited and fixed some characterizations, Sexism, my friend did, peggy being fed up with people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 19:23:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3220556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madcapdragonshenanigans/pseuds/madcapdragonshenanigans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peggy considers the word darling, and why she hates it so much.  </p>
<p>Or the one where Peggy is fed up with everyone looking down on her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Darling

**Author's Note:**

> So my friend Delenn wrote this for me, and told me I could edit it and post it on my account. I have now done this, so you can blame her for being a wonderful enabler. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the plot.

Agent Peggy Carter had had it up to here with the word "darling".

There was nothing inherently wrong with the word, and could be nice if said right, she supposed. But like most things, there were two sides to the word. It had started that morning, a Monday, when Peggy was heading into work. Before she had even reached the front door, still on the street, there it was, that awful word.

 

“Hey there, darlin'. Where you off to in a rush? Ride with me and I'll get you there in a minute." It was a male voice, coming from a car next to Peggy.

 

The man sitting in the car was at least forty five, maybe fifty. He had features that made Peggy nervous, a hooked nose and stern expression that didn't match the almost-nice grin plastered on his face. Instead of looking friendly, though, the man looked predatory and dangerous.

 

“No, thank you.” Peggy said, averting her eyes.

 

Some arse in a worn-out truck was no reason to inconvenience herself. She didn’t pick up her pace and simply continued forward. The man in the car let out a whistle as she walked ahead of him.

 

“Change your mind, darlin’, and I’m sure I can get you anyplace you’re lookin’ to go. Maybe a few new places too,” The man shouted after her.

 

Peggy wasn't afraid, but she looked back anyway, to make sure the man did not move from his seat. He hadn’t. She hurried into the phone building as soon as she could.

 

———

 

The second reason that Peggy Carter found herself hating “darling” came only a few minutes after the first. 

 

There was nothing Peggy hated more than being looked down upon by others. Unfortunately, it was something she had grown accustomed to in certain circumstances. One of these circumstances was when she was around her less than tactful co-workers. Usually, however, she could deal with it. They were rude to a level that she didn’t find at all tasteful, but they knew how powerful she could be if she needed to. It was definitely worse when she was meeting with new people, and their first impression or assumption was that she was a temp, or a secretary. 

 

Peggy knew that she had a meeting that day, and she also knew that she would have to impress the man who it was with. Quick wit was one thing, but her reports that she turned in to him also had to be filed perfectly. The man’s name was Harvey Reiner and Peggy wasn’t quite sure who he was other than the fact that he was “important”. The only information given to her was in the form of a handwritten note left on her desk to have mission files ready.

Luckily for her, Peggy was good at not letting her files get into a terrible mess between reports, unlike certain other agents’ files she had caught sight of. The paperwork was in order five minutes before she was called into a side office to speak with Mr. Reiner.

 

“Agent Carter, you’re up!”

 

Peggy straightened her papers before heading over into the room, smiling and nodding to the man sitting at the table. She walked straight over, trying to get the man to make eye contact with her. He merely looked up for a moment before looking back down at whatever he was reading. Then he glanced up again.

 

“Oh, darling, could you fetch me a coffee? I have a meeting with Agent Carter in a second, so if you could fetch him for me as well that would be great.” Harvey Reiner had the nerve to wink after that.

 

Instead of shouting or making a scene, Peggy closed her eyes for a second and then smiled tightly. She took a deep, calming breath before extending a hand. Mr. Reiner looked confused for a moment before Peggy introduced herself.

 

“Agent Peggy Carter, and I believe these are the files you had requested from me?”

 

Reiner froze for a moment before frowning and almost glaring at her for a moment.

“Yes, certainly. Take a seat, darl— agent.”

 

Peggy gritted her teeth through the rest of the meeting.

 

———

 

It was when Peggy Carter finally came home from work the following day that she really, really wanted to eradicate all use of the word “darling”.

 

Being an agent, and a field agent at that, Peggy was used to danger. If she had been a more ridiculous person, she might have said that danger was her middle name. Either way, she was not unaccustomed to hand-to-hand combat or dodging bullets. It was in the job description.

The fact that, ‘avoid bullets’ was in her job description meant that she was quite proud to have survived thus far in her life. It was still exhausting after a day out in the field, though. Playing detective and searching for clues was only fun until she was punched rather hard in the shoulder by a muscular man and then shoved rather hard into a concrete wall. It wasn’t until both of these things had already occurred that Peggy had managed to knock her assailant out.

 

Not wanting to both Jarvis, and also not particularly wanting to listen to his well-intentioned worrying and general, well, talking… Peggy made the decision to just take a cab back to the Griffith. So, careful not to move her bruised left shoulder, the tired agent waved down a taxi and climbed into the back seat. The cab driver in the front seat turned around to ask her where she was heading, and Peggy rattled off the address of the women’s home without even looking up.

Her eyes were trained on her shoulder where, lo and behold, it already looked like a croquet ball had been bashed into her skin.

 

Peggy sighed. This would take some time to heal. It was just part of the job, though. She smiled just a bit, a genuine smile, not like the ones she tended to feed to the men at work or people she passed on the street. This was a job well done.

It was a moment later that Peggy noticed that the car had yet to actually start moving. She looked up and found the cab driver looking very shocked and concerned by the blob of bluish purple on Peggy’s shoulder. She cleared her throat to grab his attention from her wound.

 

“Oh, yes. Very sorry. Where was it you said you were headed, miss?”

 

Peggy refrained from doing something childish like rolling her eyes and repeated the address. The cabbie nodded and faced forward again before turning back a second time.

 

“Are you don’t want to head to the hospital or a doctor’s, darlin’? You might want to get that checked out. For a little thing like you, that’s a big bruise,” He said, and Peggy shook her head abruptly.

 

“Please just take me to the address I gave you.”

 

The man looked genuinely concerned, but that was what bugged Peggy. And the “darling” just added to that. Everyone liked looking down on her, and in Agent Carter’s books, a condescending and concerned “darling” was no better than a blatantly rude one. Maybe someday this would stop happening, but Peggy had a feeling that until then she would have to just have to deal with this.

She would be back to the Griffith soon and then she could just sleep.

 

———

 

When Peggy finally got into her room and closed the door, she was ready to either collapse on her bed or burn a paper with the word “darling” written on it.

 

She immediately did the prior, saving the latter for when she had more energy and her arm wasn’t still aching.

If it said anything about Peggy’s tiredness factor, she didn’t even look up when the door to her room opened and someone came in. Instead she just waited as the sound of heels clicked across the floor for a minute. Then the clicking stopped and she could hear the sound of bare feet instead.

It was Angie. She was the only one who did that: take off her shoes the minute she got into Peggy’s room. Still, Peggy didn’t move, and just waited. Maybe Angie would think she was asleep if she just lay there on her stomach, face shoved into a pillow of her still-made bed. Or maybe not.

 

“Hey, English, you okay?” Angie asked, and Peggy felt the other woman poke her in the back.

 

She let out a groan and rolled onto her side, taking the pillow with her so she could hold it over her own face. It was time to sleep, and time to do anything but something, so time to do nothing. Ignoring the protest of her shoulder, Peggy kept the pillow over her face.

 

“Hey Pegs?  You okay? Do you want me to get some ice darling?” Angie asked worriedly. 

 

Peggy moved the pillow off her face and looked up at her girlfriend. She laughed just a tiny bit and pulled herself up to a sitting position, leaning against Angie where she was sitting on the edge of the bed. Something to make the dreadful swelling on her shoulder go away did sound nice.

 

“Ice would be good, yes, thank you dear. ”

 

As Angie immediately headed off to grab the ice, Peggy thought maybe the word “darling” wasn’t so bad after all.

 

 


End file.
